Rail grinding apparatus



May 9, 1961 w. M. LUTTS, SR 2,983,085

RAIL GRINDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 1, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 T '7 l i rN [s g INVENTOR a", 1 WILLIAM M.LUTTS, 5?. I i [F3 BY I W ATTORNEY y 9,1961 w. M. LUTTS, SR 2,983,085

RAIL GRINDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 1, 1959 5 Shets-Sheet 2 ea s2INVENTOR WILLIAM M LuTTs', SR.

ATTORNEY May 9, 1961 w. M. LUTTS, sR 2,983,085

RAIL GRINDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 1, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ll -7 JWILLJAM M. LUTTS SR.

BY E

ATTORNEY INVENTOR y 1961 w. M. LUTTS, SR 2,983,085

RAIL GRINDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 1, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 4' INVENTORWlLL\AM M. LUTTS, SR.

ATTORNEY May 9, 1961 w. M. LUTTS, SR

' RAIL GRINDING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 1, 1959 ONE BYME, SM/W K ATTORNEY United States Patfi RAIL GRINDING APPARATUS WilliamM. Lutts, Sr., 4102 Berkshire Ave Louisville, Ky.

Filed Sept. 1, 1959, Ser. No. 837,483

Claims. to]. 51-178) This invention relates to an improved grindingapparatus and, more particularly, to an apparatus for grinding rails forvarious purposes, being especially well adapted for rail bondingpreparation.

Many types of rail grinders have been proposed heretofore, but, so faras I am aware, they have .beengenerally characterized by being heavy andrelatively expensive and diflicult to handle by a single operator. As isknown, such grinders, when transported .on a wheeled can-iage, must becapable of rapid removal from the tracks by the operator and during useshould be safe to handle and should result in a of fatigue to theoperator. It is a purpose of this invention,therefore, to provide anapparatus which accomplishes these desirable objectives.

An object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, light-weight,carriage-mounted rail grinding apparatus.

Another object is to provide a rail grinding apparatus causing a reducedamount of fatigue in the operator employing the same.

Another object is to provide a rail grinding apparatus adapted for useby an operator standing in visually adjacent relation to the point ofapplication of the grinder, but sufiiciently far therefrom to be safelyspaced therefrom.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds and when considered in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:.

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a single rail grinding apparatus embodying theinvention and arranged for cutting off a rail bond;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation V 7 Fig.3 is a detail view of a portion ofthe carriage used for tilting the grinder with respect to the rail;

Fig. 4 is an elevation view of a trunnion for mounting the grinderapplying lever; Y

Fig. 5 is an elevation view of an assembly for driving the grinder wheelfrom the flexible shaft and with the wheel'removed;

j Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 whenarranged for rail bonding grinding;

' Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation view of the apparatus shown inFig. 6; 1

Fig. 8 is front elevation view of a mounting fora motor on the carriagewith parts shown insectionj' i Fig. 9 is a plan view of a double railgrinding apparatusembodying the invention and arranged for use by twooperators in railbonding grinding; and

Fig. 10 is ,a front elevation view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 9.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a self-containedwheeled carriage carrying a motor. and.

afgrinder and suitable for placingupon and removal; 70

from the traekby a single operator. A grinder applying view of theapparatusjoif ber. 14 having a suitable wheel 15 mounted. thereon for'Pa tented May 9, 1961 successive grinding locations and without stoppingthe motor during that carriage movement.

Referring first to Fig. 1 showing a single rail grinding apparatus, thecarriage may conveniently comprise a first portion having a generallyhorizontal tubular member 10 extending parallel to rail 11. Adjacent itsends the member supports axles extending transversely of the rail andupon which axles a pair of wheels 12- and13 are mounted. A complementaryand second portion of the carriage may comprise a simple tubularoutrigger mem-' rolling contact with rail 16.- As shown, this latterwheel may be constructed of .WQOd, plastic ,or other non-conductivematerial in order to. avoid shorting the track circuit; or other meansfor avoiding suchw shorting may be employed.

As best shown in Fig. 3, the tubular member 14 at one end issuitablyflattened and has rigidly afiixed thereto a flat adjusting lug 1 7.Extending through this lug ad-' jacent the center line thereof and nearthe junction of the lug and outrigger member is an aperture 18 throughwhich a suitable bolt.19 may bepositioned to join the Extending Y thebolt 19 and a second bolt 22 extending through the" slot 20. Each ofbolts 19 and 22' are engaged in place by means of nuts and washers,Accordingly, by means of the described arrangement, the first carriageportion may be selectively tilted with respect to rail ,11 dependingupon the particular portion of slot 20 in which bolt.

22 is engaged, all for apurpose later to become apparent.

Member 14 may also conveniently serve 'as a support for a'conventionalmotor shown generally at 30 and the weight'o'f which is disposed between'the rails'of the track. This motor may comprise an internal combus tionengine having a crank shaft housing 31 to the lower end ofiwhich a motoradapter plate 3-2 is fastened, as

seen in Fig. 8; Extending from this plate is a projection I 33 threadedat its'lower end and adapted to receiver fastening nut 34; Serving as asupporting base for the motor is a generally dish-shaped plate 35 havinga heuew spacer 36 mounted thereon'and through which" the pro levermounted on the carriage is adapted to support the.

' with the cradle memberlto hold 'i the' plate and securely upon thecarriage. By means of thedescrib jection 3-3 extends in rotatablerelation thereto. Thusf;

when it is desired to shift the'motor on its vertical, axis, as whenadjustment of the flexible shaft, later to be de scribed, is required,the projection 33 may gbe' r'otatedf with respect to the spacer andtheplate. SuitableInie'ans for lubricating the bearing 'surface'betweenthe tion and spacer may also be employed. I I i v Welded or otherwiseaflix'ed to outrigger member 38, is a pivotable locking bar 39 adaptedto releasabl engage the periphery of plate 35 and in conjuncti plate andmounting and the use. of tubularframe me bers, a strong, andwellbalanced,'b11t light-weight carri g isprovided. r V

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 6, an arrangement is shown wherein theoutside surface of rail 11 is to be ground, but as will be apparent, theinvention is in no way limited to this arrangement and on the contrarymay by suitable modification be employed for grinding the inner surfaceof such rails. When grinding the outer surface of the rail the membernormally lies adjacent and slightly above the inner surface of the railand when grinding the inner surface it would lie adjacent and slightlyabove the outer surface of the rail. In either event the member 10serves as a support for a rigid platform here shown as an L-shaped platehaving a fiat upper surface extending over the rail adjacent the forwardwheel 13 of the carriage. The plate is provided with a suitable hole inits upper surface into which the lower skirt 41 of a trunnion shown inFig. 4 is adapted to fit with a shoulder 42 of the trunnion bearingagainst the surface of the plate. The interior of the trunnion isthreaded to receive a bolt extending through the plate and having a head43 engageable with the lower surface of the plate. The trunnion also hasan enlarged cap 44 and a cylindrical side surface 45.

As a significant feature of the invention, an improved grinder-applyinglever, preferably formed of a suitably bent tubing and with its partswelded into an integral construction, is employed. This lever, at itsforward end, terminates in a collar portion 46 having a suitable bearingbushing therein and which bushing surrounds the side of the trunnionwith the trunnion cap holding the lower end of the collar portion incontact with the upper surface of platform 40, thus confining the leversubstantially to pivoted transverse motion with respect to rail 11.

Also mounted upon platform 40 is a yoke assembly 47 spanning the rangeof movement of the lever and including a compression spring 48interposed between the lever and one leg of the yoke. This spring biasesthe lever to move in a second direction at the extreme limit of whichthe grinder is held completely out of contact with fish plates orsimilar rail elements, thus permitting the self-contained apparatus tobe moved along the rails without interference and while the grinder isrotating.

Offset from the forward end of the lever is a central horizontallyarranged portion 50 which merges into an upright portion 51 to which isattached a suitable manually graspable member for actuating the leverand here shown as a pair of handle bars 52, 53. These bars preferablyare disposed at an elevation alfording a comfortable working positionfor an operator standing on the road bed and which places the operatorin a position which is visually adjacent the point of application of thegrinder but which simultaneously is spaced sufiiciently far from thatpoint of application to add to the safety of the operator.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7, a bracket structure is rigidly mountedupon lever portion 50 at a sufiicient distance fi'om the fulcrum pointof that lever to provide a steady, even pressure upon the grinder whenthe handle bars are manipulated. This structure may comprise a pairofdepending plates 54 and 55 welded at their upper ends to the lever andhaving outwardly projecting bolts adjacent a lower portion. Bridging thelower ends of these plates is a generally horizontal clamp member 56having holes receiving the bolts and with an arcuate central face 57merging into flat end faces. Cooperating with the described clamp is asecond clamp member 58 having a complementary arcuate central faceportion 59 in juxtaposed relation to the first clamp and merging intoflat end faces. This second clamp also contains holes through which thethreaded bolts from the depending plates extend and by means of suitablenuts the second clamp may be held in fixed relation to the first clampand serve to clamp therebetween the arcuate portion of the member to beclamped. As seen in Figs. 6 and. 7, this member being so clamped isthespindle housing 601 ofthe grinder shaft while in Figs. 1 and 2 themember being .4 so clamped is the rod 61 of an adaptor element of thebracket structure. As will later appear, when the grinder element isserving to rotate on a generally horizontal axis as when cutting off oldrail bonds, the adaptor element is used and when rotating in a generallyvertical axis, as when grinding the rail for making a bond, the adapterelement is not used.

The adaptor element may include a generally vertical hollow rod 61 tothe lower end of which is attached a plate having an upper portion 62,an intermediate portion 63 inclined both downwardly and away from therail, and a bottom portion 64. Rigidly afiixed to the bottom portion isa generally vertical clamp member 65 similar to the previously describedclamp member 56 and braced by means of a strut 66. A complementary clampmember 67, similar to clamp member 58, serves to hold the spindlehousing of the grinder rigidly in cutting position when assembled asseen in Figs. 1 and 2. As a convenience, the adaptor element may bestowed on the carriage when not in use, a holding bracket 68 beingprovided on tubular member 10 for this purpose, as seen in Fig. 6.

Connected to the drive shaft of motor 30 is a conventional elongatedflexible shaft 70 having a length sufiicicut to permit ready mountingand dismounting upon the bracket structure, the shaft being encased in asuitable flexible housing 71 containing lubricant. The shaft may also besupported at an intermediate point by means of a spring loaded hasp 72mounted upon the upright portion 51 of the lever and with sufficientslack so that movement of that lever in no way interferes with therotation of the shaft. At the distal end the shaft 70 is mounted forrotation within a conventional spindle housing, being supported thereinby ball bearings or the like. This spindle housing has a cylindricalrigid portion 60 attached to the flexible housing 71 for the shaft andprojecting from that portion is the rotary shaft end 73 on which thegrinder wheel is detachably mounted. Suitable clamps 74 and 75 attachedto the shaft end and between which the grinder wheel is held as by meansof an adjustable nut 76 also are provided.

Various forms of grinding wheels may be mounted upon the describedassembly, for example, relatively thin wheels, such as shown at 77, whenused for cutting off rail bonds or lips of worn rails, or relativelythick wheels, such as shown at 78, when abrading the rail. In addition,the spindle housing portion 60 has suflicient length not only to providea rigid mounting ofthe assembly within the clamps of the bracketstructure, but also to provide a mounting for a conventionalsemi-circular shield 80 which is clamped to that spindle housing byclamp members of the type above described. This shield may also containa handle portion 81 permitting convenient lifting of the wheel andspindle housing when adjustment from one position to another is needed.Moreover, when the apparatus is to be taken out of operation and thegrinder is to be stowed, an upright support 82 rigidly mounted upon thebase plate 35 for the motor may be employed for holding the grinder,spindle housing and slack portion of the flexible shaft; the shaft atthis time being detached from its engagement with hasp 72.

Having thus described certain structural features of the apparatus, theintended operation of the same will now be apparent to those skilled inthe art. The apparatus is light weight and may be handled by a singleoperator who can easily place it on the rail or remove it therefrom. Byattaching the spindle housing to the bracket structure, the grindingwheel is rigidly mounted adjacent the point at which it is to serve, andchatter and undue vibration is reduced. By grasping the handle bars theoperator may apply slow steady pressure of the grinder against the railmerely by pivoting the lever.

toward. that rail and this is done in a comfortable standing position.Since the precise surface to be abraded Ned mm frequently is not in atrue vertical'plane, the first portion of the carriage carrying thegrinder may conveniently be tilted to bring the grinder into the desiredplane merely by adjusting the setting of the lugs 17 and 21 by looseningbolt 22 and retightening the same after that bolt has been located atthe appropriate position in slot 20. After the grinding is completed atone location, the operator permits spring 48 to move the lever away fromthe rail and with the motor still driving the grinder, may then push thecarriage along the track to the next grinding station.

As seen in Figs. 9 and 10, the invention may also be embodied in anapparatus suitable for use on two rails and operable by two operators.In this modification, a pair of tubular members 110 and 210 mountwheels112, 113, and 212, 213, respectively, for movement on rails 11 and 16. Acentral carriage element 114 is provided with lugs 117 and 217adjustably mounted for tilting of the structure as above describedthrough engagement with the lugs 121 and 221 fixed to the tubularmembers 110 and 210, respectively.

A single motor 130 is mounted upon carriage element 114 by means of baseplate 135 andis equipped with a laterally projecting housing 100 withinwhich is contained suitable dual flexible take-off shafts 101 and 102.These shafts may be driven from the motor by suitable gears, pulley andbelts, or the like, the precise nature of which forms no part of thepresent invention. At their distal ends these shafts are mounted inspindle heousings 160 and 260 supporting grinders 177 and 277,respectively, and mounted in bracket structures of the type abovedescribed. These bracket structurm, moreover, are mounted upongrinder-applying levers 150 and 250 having handle bar structure 152, 153and 252, 253 attached thereto in the manner above set forth.

- In all major particulars the apparatus seen in Figs. 9 and is intendedto carry out the objectives set forth with respect to the one-operatortype of apparatus. For example, it may be employed for either cuttingoff old rail bonds, cutting lips from worn rails, or abrading rails atthe proper location for installation of rail bonds. As in the case ofthe one-operator apparatus, merely by transposing the location of thetubular members 110 and 210 from the inside of the rails to the outsideof the same and by pivoting the lever to move toward those rails fromthe inside of the same, the apparatus may then be employed to grindinside surfaces of rails.

While in accordance with the patent statues there I has been describedwhat at present are considered to be preferred embodiments of theinvention, it will be understood that various changes and modificationscan be made therein without departing from the invention, and it isintended, in the appended claims, to cover all such changes andmodifications as fall within the true spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway track grinding apparatus, a wheeled carriage supportedupon the rails of a track for movement therealong by an operatorstanding upon the track bed, a platform rigidly attached to saidcarriage adjacent the forward end of said carriage, a lever pivoted atthe end upon said platform for movement in a plane generally parallel toand above the plane of the tops of said track rails, manually graspablemeans adjacent the second end of .said lever for moving said leverbetween a first position in which the major axis thereof is generallyparallel to the rail under treatment and a second position in V whichthe major axis of said lever is disposed at an acute angle with respectto the rail under treatment as viewed in the direction of the operator,a motor mounted upon said carriage, a grinder, a flexible shaft drivenby said motor and attached to said grinder, a spindlehouslever'and'including a bracket structure'rigidly mounted 4 upon. saidlever and extending downwardlyitherefrom into proximity to the railundertreatment, and means form detachably connecting said spindlehousing .to. said" bracket structure thereby to support said grinderupon sitions.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein saidacute angle has a valuecommensurate with movement of said j carriage along said track from onegrinding location toanother with said grinder rotating and withoutcontact of said rotating grinder with the track structure.

3. In a railway track grinding apparatus, a wheeled carriage supportedupon the rails of a track for movement therealong by an operatorstanding upon the track bed, said carriage comprising a first portionsupported on a first rail and a second portion supported on a secondrail, means connecting said carriage portions and including anadjustable fastening for positioning said first carriage portion in aselected position of transverse tilt with respect to said first rail, aplatform rigidly attached to said first carriage portion adjacent theforward end thereof, a lever pivoted at one end upon said platform formovement in a plane tilted from a plane generally parallel to the planeof the tops of said rails by an angle corresponding to the angle oftransverse tilt of said first carriage portion with respect to saidfirst rail, manually graspable means adjacent the second end of saidlever for moving said lever between a first position in which the majoraxis thereof is generally parallel to the rail under treatment and asecond position in which the major axis of said lever is disposed at anacute angle with respect to the rail under treatment as viewed in thedirection of the operator, a motor mounted upon said carriagfl, agrinder, a flexible shaft driven by said motor and attached to saidgrinder, a spindle housing surrounding said shaft adjacent theattachment of said shaft to said grinder, means for supporting saidgrinder upon said lever intermediate theends of said lever and includinga bracket structure extending downwardly therefrom into proximity to therail under treatment, and means for detachably connecting said spindlehousing to said bracket structure thereby to support said grinder uponsaid lever and to enable the operator to bring said grinder into and outof contact with said rail under treatment and at the desired angle oftransverse tilt by pivoting said lever between said first and secondpositions.

4. In a railway track grinding apparatus, a wheeled carriage supportedupon the rails of a track for move ment therealong by an operatorstanding upon the track bed, a platform rigidly attached to saidcarriage adjacent the forward end of said carriage, a lever pivoted atone x end upon said platform for movement in a plane generally parallelto and above the plane of the tops of said track rails, manuallygraspable means adjacent the second I I end of said lever for movingsaid lever between a first 1,

position in which the major axis thereof is generally parallel to therail under treatment and a second position 7 l in which the major axisof said lever is disposed at an acute angle with respect to said railunder treatment as viewed in the direction of the operator, a springmounted shaft driven by said motor and attached to said grinder,

a spindle housing surrounding said shaft adjacent the at; tachment ofsaid shaft to said grinder, means for support-5 ing said grinder uponsaid lever intermediate the ends' of said lever and including a bracketstructure rigidly mounted upon said lever and extending downwardlytherefrom ing surrounding said shaft adjacent the attachment of saidshaft to said grinder, means for supporting said grinder upon said leverintermediate the ends of said into proximity to the rail undertreatment, and means for detachably connecting said spindle housing tosaid bracket structure thereby to support said grinder upon said leverand to enable the operator to bring said grinder into contact with therail under treatment by pivoting said lever toward said first positionagainst the action of said spring.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said lever includes handlebars at the second end thereof and means on said lever adjacent saidhandle bars supporting said flexible shaft at a point between said motorand said grinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSAnnable Dec. 3. 1907 Jenkins Jan. 19. 1909 Peck Jan. 15, 1935 Mall May25, 1937 Perazzoli May 24, 1938 Robinson Feb. 24. 1953

